


a rocky start

by andnowforyaya



Category: B.A.P
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sports, Gen, M/M, junhong thinks he's spider-man
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-19
Updated: 2016-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-27 18:05:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6294430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andnowforyaya/pseuds/andnowforyaya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daehyun and Youngjae decide to take a beginner's rock climbing class.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Their beanpole of an instructor came to the small group of climbing newbies with six climbing harnesses neatly coiled around his shoulder, dressed in tight athletic leggings and a black t-shirt with the gym’s name emblazoned across the chest: B.A.P (Daehyun wasn’t 100% sure what the acronym stood for; something to do with boulders, aerial sports, and pleasure. Or was it peaks?). The group consisted of two girls and four boys, and it was clear from the way the girls behaved around the ropes and equipment that they’d been here before, or at least climbed elsewhere. Daehyun and his friend Youngjae, who’d heard about the climbing gym from his friend Junhong, who had an Instagram full of videos of himself doing parkour in a cheap Spider-Man costume, were completely new to the experience.

The instructor’s hair was cropped close to the sides of his head, and his arms and legs were corded with tight, long muscles, and down one arm he had a half-sleeve tattoo that ended at his elbow. Daehyun thought of his own little tattoo at his wrist, a single word: “HOLD”. The word seemed ironic, here, and that tattoo suddenly felt very small on him, seeing how inked the instructor was. A shadow at the edge of the instructor’s t-shirt collar made Daehyun’s imagination spin wild with images of what lay underneath that shirt.

When Daehyun looked up at the instructor’s face again, his wide smile caught Daehyun’s attention, and then he spoke.

Oh, he spoke. That voice sent a shiver straight to Daehyun’s knees. It sounded like the way smoke filled a room and put you in a haze -- smooth, velvet, _thorough_. “My name is Bang Yongguk, but everyone calls me Bbang,” he said. “Who’s gonna get strapped in first?” 

Daehyun shared a glance with Youngjae, who quirked an eyebrow at him knowingly. His friend made a quick, obscene gesture with his mouth and his fingers, and then Daehyun raised his hand, ignoring Youngjae’s crudeness. Yongguk smiled at Daehyun.

The class went through the basics of tying figure-eight knots and fisherman’s knots and how to make sure you wouldn’t fall out of your harness while you were climbing when Yongguk beckoned Daehyun forward with his fingers, and after Daehyun inched forward, his cheeks already hot from the attention, he turned the new climber to face the class, gently tapped the backs of his thighs, and asked him to spread his legs.

“To get you in the harness, of course,” he added with a shameless grin. Daehyun flushed more, spreading his legs as asked, and tried not to spontaneously combust when Yongguk leaned close to inspect his harness. His instructor put two fingers in the tight space between the harness belt at his waist and his skin, tugging to check its give. “You want it tight, but obviously not so tight that it’s uncomfortable,” Yongguk told the class. “This is good,” he said, indicating Daehyun’s waist, “and this is good.” He did the same two-finger check to the straps high on Daehyun’s thighs as the remaining students checked their own harnesses.

Over the top of Yongguk’s head, Daehyun met Youngjae’s eyes and scowled at the smirk that remained on his friend’s lips. It had been all his idea to come to this place, a stupid bet made during a drunken night with friends that Daehyun would never overcome his fear of heights. Youngjae had stipulated that Daehyun just needed more experience with heights, and what better way to gain experience than by learning how to rock climb? Daehyun went along with the challenge because of his dumb pride issues. And now, Yongguk’s head was very close to his navel. He swallowed, forgetting that his arms were still stuck out like a scarecrow’s.

“Now,” Yongguk said to him and him alone, his voice surprisingly husky, or was that just Daehyun hearing things? “I’m going to belay you.”

“You’re going to what?” Daehyun asked, blinking slowly and feeling silly when all he could imagine were the two of them getting horizontal together.

“I’m going to belay you,” Yongguk said again. “You’re going to climb and I’m going to keep the rope tight so you don’t fall -- so you don’t fall too long of a distance if you slip. So don’t climb too quickly. While you climb, I’ll be teaching everyone how to belay. I can help you with it after, since you’re modeling for me.”

“Oh,” Daehyun said, slightly disappointed. His narrow shoulders slumped, and Yongguk chuckled, still standing so close Daehyun could probably wrap his arms around him if he were less inhibited. “Trust me, I will be the slowest climber.”

.

Halfway up the rock face, Daehyun realized he could keep going. Sure, his fingers were already sore and his knees were shaking a bit because his brain knew he was high above ground, but as long as he kept looking up and not down, as long as he kept eyeing the next grip he could hold on his climb, he was fine.

Climbing awoke his innate love of a challenge while evoking the pleasant childhood memories of his summers in Busan, at the park scrambling up into the trees to sit in the bountiful shade. He’d been a good climber when he was kid, but hadn’t really climbed anything past his middle school years. 

Still, he was pleased to discover he could still do it. The strain on his arms was pleasant exertion, and it felt good to find the next place you could put your hand or foot when you thought you were stuck on the wall. He felt, a couple of times, Yongguk tugging harder on his end of the rope, urging him up and higher subtly. He wondered if Yongguk thought he was doing well, if Yongguk was impressed with him, this beginner who could reach the top so quickly! Pride washed through him warmly as he pushed himself and took hold of each higher grip on the wall, higher and higher, until there were no more. He’d reached the top, and he was only breathing a little harder than if he’d taken a brisk walk.

“Great job, Daehyun,” Yongguk shouted warmly up at him.

He felt flushed, and pleased with himself, and he was grinning as he turned away from the rock face for a moment.

He was nearly at the ceiling. He looked down, and a whooshing noise rushed past his ears. Everyone looked _so small_. Instantly, his palms began to sweat and he turned back around in a panic, gripping the wall hard.

“You can come down now,” Yongguk said next, still warm and gently praising. Daehyun could sense the pause and the moment Yongguk realized something was wrong. “Daehyun?”

For a moment, everyone in the gym stopped what they were doing to watch him, and the buzzing silence all around him swarmed in Daehyun’s ears, making him dizzy as he clung to the hard grips of the fake rock wall. He could hear Youngjae saying something like, “Just _let. Go_ ,” but he sounded much farther away than the few meters that separated them, and Daehyun’s eyes were squeezed shut tight so he couldn’t see the distance between them anyway, and the drop to the ground felt that much larger.

“I can’t,” he tried to shout back down, but it came out in a whisper, echoing weakly in the space between his face and the plastic rock wall. He could hear his heart beating hard, his blood pumping fast as adrenaline rushed through him, but despite the spike of energy, he was frozen. 

He should have stayed on the ground. He should have just let someone else in their Intro to Top Roping class volunteer to climb, but their instructor was so charming, and encouraging, and Daehyun realized two seconds into the class that he’d do just about anything to see Mr. Bang-Yongguk-call-me-Bbang smile that jelly-knee-inducing smile of his.

.


	2. Chapter 2

He felt like a nasty insect on the wall everyone kept staring and pointing at but didn’t know how to get rid of. He wished he could just melt into the wall itself and save everyone the trouble of looking at him, but though his insides felt like pudding, the rock face was tough and impenetrable.

The perch he had on the wall was quite solid, but every time he opened his eyes and looked down a wave of dizziness washed over him and the panic returned anew, making his palms sweaty, which made him believe he would slip any time, which only incentivized him to grip harder, fingertips digging into the hard, ridged surface, his knuckles white. There was no _way_ he was letting go of this wall and plunging the two or three stories to his death, not even when he could hear Youngjae threatening that he would go to dinner alone -- they’d both wanted to check out a new Indian place near their apartment -- and hold the experience of the meal over him until the day they died.

“You’re not gonna _fall_ ,” Youngjae yelled up with exasperation. Daehyun could imagine him standing there with his arms crossed, a bored look on his face. “There’s a _string-cable-thing_.”

“Rope,” Yongguk corrected. “It’s a rope.”

“There’s a _rope_. It’s not that far if you _did_ fall, anyway,” Youngjae continued blithely. “Junhong says he's fallen loads of times and the worst that's happened to him was a broken bone, so you’d probably only break a leg or something.”

“You are the opposite of helpful,” Daehyun managed to grit through his clenched teeth. Yongguk chuckled, and Daehyun imagined he could feel the vibrations of his laughter travel through the rope attached to the instructor’s harness up to him.

“I won’t let you fall,” Yongguk said smoothly, after he’d stopped laughing. His voice held such a low, sultry cadence that even at their distance Daehyun could feel it as though Yongguk’s breath had skimmed across the back of his neck. Yongguk’s voice carried through the open space and reached Daehyun’s ears like bells. The boy on the wall swallowed, opened his eyes, and looked down again, catching a fleeting glimpse of Yongguk’s face and worried expression. Daehyun could see the concern in his eyes. 

His beautiful eyes in that beautiful face, all perfectly presented with that beautiful, delicately sculpted body. Well, probably nothing about Yongguk was delicate, really, Daehyun mused. He did have a slight build, but the climbing instructor was probably mostly muscle. If only they weren’t so far away. If only he could travel back down the wall and see his eyes (and his muscles) up close. He turned back to face the wall, concentrating hard and mentally prying one of his fingers at a time from the grips, imagining the process of letting go vividly -- he’d just let go, and the rope would catch him, and Yongguk could lower him slowly like he’d seen other climbers do. He could feel tiny beads of sweat forming at his hairline and temples as he gnawed on his fat bottom lip in concentration. Maybe Daehyun would even kick away from a wall a bit and _float_ down. That would definitely impress Yongguk.

“Have you zoned out,” Youngjae asked in a flat tone.

Startled from his daydream, Daehyun nearly lost his grip. He let out a little scream as he righted himself.

“He zoned out,” he heard Youngjae explain to someone. Crimson heat bloomed over his cheeks when he realized Youngjae would be explaining this to Yongguk. “He does that sometimes when he’s really freaked out. Especially where heights are involved. Once, we went to Seoul Tower and he wandered off and we found him in the gift shop just kind of huddled in a corner daydreaming. He thought it was the safest spot in the Tower. He wouldn’t leave the spot unless someone held hands with him as he walked out.”

Oh, sometimes he hated Youngjae. If he were on the ground right now…

“That’s cute,” he heard Yongguk say.

To which Youngjae replied after a beat, his voice full of disdain: “Unbelievable.”

Daehyun’s heart swelled dangerously at Yongguk’s comment. Giddiness did not mix well with fear, and suddenly his vision was spotting alarmingly. His quick moment of glee at hearing Yongguk call him cute melted into more panic that was now mixed with frustration. No matter how much he wanted to let go, his traitorous body wouldn’t let him. “I want to come down now,” he whined, still gripping the wall hard, annoyed at himself, at his own fingers, at the rapid beating of his heart. “Please -- I want to come down.” He blinked away wetness in his eyes and willed the tears to stop forming. The last thing he needed was for everyone in the gym to see him cry.

“If you want to come down, we have two options,” Yongguk said, his voice an ocean of calm. Daehyun tried to breathe it in, that vast peace living in his voice. “You let go,” he said with a heavy pause, “or I come up.”

.


	3. Chapter 3

As the gym slowly picked up activity again, Daehyun became aware of how long he’d been stuck on the wall. His forearms were prickling through with tense heat and his knees were starting to shake from the strain. Even though he was secure on the wall, his feet wedged into sturdy grooves, his fear had spent his muscles, and the back of his t-shirt was clinging to his skin unpleasantly with cooling sweat. The harness also bit into the meat of his thighs, and he hoped the view from the ground wasn't too absurd.

There came a slight give in the rope that had Daehyun scrambling against the wall again, before the slack on his harness tightened. As he muttered to himself encouragement to let go, to climb back down, to jump, a shadow fell over him, darkening the area of plastic rock near his hands.

“You about ready to come down now?” Yongguk said to his right, his voice low and soothing, cutting through the white noise of activity. 

Daehyun snapped his eyes to him, taking in the easy way Yongguk leaned against the rock, how natural it seemed to see him precariously attached to the wall by just his fingertips and toes. The harness was tight around Yongguk's waist and dug into the backs of his thighs because he was sitting back a bit, relaxed. He grinned when he saw Daehyun examining him.

“If you’re up here,” Daehyun squeaked, “then who’s holding the rope?”

“My buddy Himchan’s got you,” Yongguk said. “And Jongup -- he’s another climbing instructor -- has me. See? We’ve all got each other.”

Daehyun dared to look down again and was met with the steely gaze of an aggressively attractive man. He was built thicker than Yongguk but probably about as tall, with the kind of features Daehyun often dreamt about: pointed chin and full cheeks, eyes that tilted at the outer corners like a cat’s. At the end of Yongguk’s rope was a sturdy-looking young man with biceps that looked like they would burst at any moment. He, too, was aggressively good-looking.

“Is this a gym or a modeling agency?” Daehyun found himself saying, and Yongguk chuckled, shrugging. 

“Coincidence?” he offered, not bothering to downplay the looks of the gym staff. He grinned, and Daehyun was dazzled by the whites of his teeth.

“Now you’re stuck up here with me,” Daehyun said apologetically. “I’m sorry.”

Yongguk shook his head. “Don’t be. Happens a lot, actually. I’m here to get you down.”

“I don’t see how that’s going to happen. I’m going to be stuck up here,” Daehyun said quickly. He added, “forever.”

“Well I certainly hope not,” Yongguk responded. “I was hoping you’d come down so I can take you out for dinner sometime. But we can hang out up here for a bit; I’m not in a rush.”

Daehyun felt heat coursing through every part of his body and finally gather at his cheeks. Suddenly, his muscles were insubstantial and he was weightless. A smile pulled at his lips unbidden and eager, and he was unable to hold it back. “You mean it?” he asked, incredulous that their handsome instructor would seriously want to take a newbie climber who got stuck on the wall out to dinner. He remembered being embarrassed at the beginning of this experience but couldn’t recall the feeling anymore, so overtaken he was by the giddy happiness of having his immediate attraction to Yongguk reciprocated.

“Of course,” Yongguk said, and it sounded like a promise. Daehyun clapped both hands over his mouth to hide how wide he was smiling, though he knew from the amused look on Yongguk’s face he wasn’t effectively hiding anything at all. Yongguk’s smile was growing smaller and smaller, though not because he wasn’t grinning anymore. No, his face itself was getting smaller as the distance between them grew.

Daehyun gasped, finally feeling how the rope jerked slightly as Himchan lowered him the long distance to the ground. Already, he was halfway down the wall. In his shock at being asked to dinner at such close range, Daehyun had finally let go of the wall, and Himchan was letting him down slowly.

Yongguk called out a quick word to Jongup and then kicked off the wall, and he smoothly sailed down in three easy leaps. By the time Daehyun’s feet finally touched the ground, Yongguk was already untying the rope from the harness. He stepped forward and caught Daehyun under both arms when Daehyun’s knees buckled underneath him when he tried to stand on his own two feet.

“Jelly legs,” Yongguk said reassuringly, and he was holding Daehyun close to his chest. “Again, it’s common.” He smelled pleasantly musky and Daehyun breathed his scent in as Yongguk steadied him. When he let go, Daehyun still felt like he was floating, like his feet were on clouds. They were about the same height but Daehyun felt small in Yongguk's arms, and he liked it. 

“You okay?”

Daehyun nodded, mute, hoping his cheeks weren't as red as they felt.

“Let’s get you untied, then.” 

.


	4. Chapter 4

The rest of the class continued under Jongup and Himchan’s tutelage, as Yongguk had taken it upon himself to guide Daehyun to the waiting area between the jagged walls for different types of climbing. There were a couple of low couches decorated with cushions that had seen better days here, as well as a stack of climbing and outdoor-themed magazines on the cement ground. Youngjae shot Daehyun a mutinous look for abandoning him that quickly fell from his face when Himchan started instructing, replaced with an intense stare Youngjae directed at their new instructor.

“Show me your fisherman’s knots,” Himchan was saying. His voice was an interesting mix of smooth and growl, and Daehyun could see the gears in Youngjae’s head spinning as the class resumed. Youngjae tied a fisherman’s knot with intense speed and focus, and Himchan strolled over to him to inspect it.

Daehyun didn’t even have time to giggle at this new development, because Yongguk was helping him out of his harness, which had tightened around the tops of his thighs, and that was where Yongguk had his hands, his long fingers. The climbing instructor wedged his fingertips between the straps and the cloth of Daehyun’s shorts and pulled, loosening them just enough as Daehyun’s cheeks burned. He wanted to fall into the couch and hide his red face but made himself stand very still instead as Yongguk loosened the strap around his other thigh, and then finally the one around his waist.

“You feeling okay?” Yongguk asked as Daehyun gingerly stepped out of the harness. “Sometimes people feel faint after something like that. You should sit. I’ll get you some water.”

Daehyun sat like a sack of potatoes being thrown to the ground. His limbs felt disjointed from his body, like they weren’t quite real. From experience, he knew it was an after effect of the panic he had felt and breathed in and out deliberately, slowly, while waiting for Yongguk to return.

He closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, Yongguk was holding a bottle of water out to him, an expectant look on his face. “On the house,” he said, and made sure Daehyun had his grip with both hands around the bottle before letting go and sitting down beside him, the couch cushion bouncing under Daehyun a little with the added weight.

Daehyun struggled a little with opening the top of the bottle, but finally managed and touched his lips to the cool rim. He tipped his head back and the water sluiced down his throat, and he suddenly realized he was parched. In a couple of long pulls, the bottle was empty.

“All good?” Yongguk asked, taking the bottle from him without asking. He set it down on the ground with a thunk.

“Yeah,” Daehyun said. He licked his lips. “Thank you.” Sitting forward on the low couch cost Daehyun too much energy and made his knees come up to his chest awkwardly, so he let himself lean all the way against the back cushion, and their shoulders brushed. Yongguk’s shoulder was muscled and hard against his, and again despite their similar height, Daehyun felt small. Yongguk had this air of authority around him that Daehyun could never emulate himself. Just being near the older instructor made him want to fidget. He wanted to bring up the dinner date and ask again if Yongguk had been serious, but then he didn’t want to seem too eager, either. As Yongguk sighed and shifted closer, Daehyun sweat for something to say to get rid of the lingering silence.

Then Yongguk said, “So, about dinner.”

.

Daehyun was early.

The restaurant Yongguk had picked for them buzzed inside with movement and conversation. He had fifteen minutes until their reservation and stood on the sidewalk, checking his phone every couple of seconds hoping Yongguk would actually show up. Unable to stem his curiosity, he peered into one of the windows that lined the wall facing the street, taking in the dim lights. A single candle brushed golden light over the center of each table, and at every table sat an impeccably dressed couple, heads bents towards each other as they murmured over their food. The restaurant Yongguk had chosen exuded good taste.

Daehyun looked down at himself. He had shimmied into dark jeans and a simple black v-neck and cardigan, because when he’d asked Yongguk what to wear, Yongguk had responded, “Don’t worry about it.”

So he’d gone for a step up from casual. Peering again into the restaurant, however, Daehyun wondered if he should have gotten out and shaken the dust off the single suit in his closet.

Ten minutes until the reservation. Until Yongguk showed. Or didn’t show. After they had exchanged numbers at the gym, Yongguk hadn’t been particularly receptive to his attempts to start up conversations via text, though he’d said and apologized upfront for his social media skills being severely lacking. Daehyun crossed his arms in front of his chest, hoping that the electronic silence from Yongguk didn’t mean he wasn’t interested anymore. Then, he uncrossed his arms because he didn’t want to make it look like he was angry with Yongguk in case the older man happened to arrive at that very moment. Maybe he would go for a walk around the block to pass some time.

Yeah.

He took a very quick walk around the block and there were still seven minutes left before the reservation, and a couple who had been waiting outside with him looked at him confusedly before being wrapped up in each other again.

“Saw something I wanted to check out,” Daehyun mumbled more to himself than to the couple, as an excuse for his stroll. He peered at his phone as it buzzed in his hands, his heart jumping a couple of beats as he imagined an incoming text from Yongguk cancelling their date at the last minute. However, the text was from Youngjae, asking if he’d gotten there too early again.

He ignored it, miffed.

Then he felt guilty about ignoring it, because Youngjae was really just checking in on him. He took out his phone again to type a reply when a hand waved in front of his face, and then a face appeared in front of his face.

“Yongguk!” he called out.

“You sound surprised,” Yongguk said in greeting. “We _did_ agree to this date together, right?”

“Right,” Daehyun said with only a slight stutter. “Right, yeah. Of course. I’m just. You showed!”

Yongguk smiled at that, and finally Daehyun took in his date’s appearance.

He wore all black, his shirt tucked into the front of his jeans, a leather jacket slung over his shoulders. If he weren’t smiling, Daehyun thought, he’d look dangerous. A small shiver of excitement coursed through him.

“Should we go in?” Yongguk said. “You look great, by the way.” He held out his hand for Daehyun to take, a casual gesture, but one Daehyun had never achieved on a first date. After only slight hesitation, Daehyun took it. Yongguk’s fingers were dry and rough, callused between his knuckles and over the tops of his palms from frequent climbing. He was thrumming with a giddy, fizzy sort of happiness at the compliment, at holding hands.

“You, too,” he said, happily following Yongguk inside.

.

Yongguk held his hand as they were leaving the restaurant, too. The air was balmy and pleasant, and Yongguk offered to walk Daehyun home.

“You don’t have to,” Daehyun said, his cheeks pink.

Yongguk squeezed his hand tighter. He said, “I want to.”

They walked, Daehyun stealing sidelong glances at Yongguk and pretending to be inspecting the signs of the stores they passed if Yongguk caught him. After the third time this happened, Yongguk grinned and laughed, pulling Daehyun closer to him.

“You’re adorable,” Yongguk said. “Is it an act?”

Daehyun felt breathless. He was pressed along Yongguk’s side and could feel the older man’s hand trailing over the small of his back. “Is what an act?”

“Guess not,” Yongguk said. He slipped his hand into the back pocket of Daehyun’s jeans and they strolled like this, stuck together, in comfortable silence. All too soon, they reached Daehyun’s apartment building.

He paused, looking up at the wall of windows.

Yongguk did, too. “What floor are you on?” he asked.

“Five,” Daehyun said, pointing at a window. “That’s us.”

“What’s it like with Youngjae as your roommate?”

Daehyun smiled. “Loud,” he explained. “He’s my best friend. We annoy each other so much. What’s it like living alone?” He turned to Yongguk, who was suddenly much closer than he remembered. His hands came up instinctively, and his palms just barely touched Yongguk’s chest.

“Quiet,” Yongguk said. “Peaceful.”

Yongguk pressed closer in the next breath, his arms coming to wrap around Daehyun’s waist. His lips were pink and perfect, and Daehyun’s own lips parted, looking at them. He didn’t want the night to end, but Youngjae was upstairs, and he’d always felt weird about inviting first dates inside. Something about Yongguk was different, though. Something he liked.

“Will you teach me how to belay?” he asked, his voice coming out huskier than he’d intended.

Yongguk chuckled under his breath. One hand came under Daehyun’s chin, and he gently guided Daehyun forward. His other hand pushed against Daehyun’s back, urging. “Of course,” he said. “Any time. And then maybe one day I can show you some other uses for the knots I teach you how to tie.”

He kissed him, and Daehyun’s stomach swooped, because it felt like a promise for something more.

.

**Author's Note:**

> titles are stupid.


End file.
